


The Righteous

by Shiibee



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Afterlife, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Afterlife, Alternate Universes, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bisexual Dean Winchester, Bittersweet, Character Death, Comfort, Comfort/Angst, Dead Castiel (Supernatural), Dead People, Dean Winchester as Death, Death, Death HEAVY, Depressing, Destiel - Freeform, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Ghosts, Heartbreak, Heartbreaking, Heaven, Heaven & Hell, Heavy Angst, Hell, Homophobia, Human Castiel (Supernatural), Human Dean Winchester, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mindfuck, POV Third Person, Plot, Plot Twists, Purgatory, Religion, Sad, Sad and Sweet, Samulet, Samulet (Supernatural), Set in the afterlife, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Soul Bond, Soul-Crushing, Soulmates, Spirits, Spiritual, Time Loop, castiel novak - Freeform, detailed deaths, plot heavy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:14:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28359117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shiibee/pseuds/Shiibee
Summary: Earth and its many cultures had different names for it, such as Death, Angel of Death and the Reaper and although the names were so different, it was all the same thing, truthfully the one who guided souls into the afterlife was called The Righteous. Those who went by that name came and went, just like everything in life, they could die too, and when they did it was passed onto the next person in line who was deemed righteous enough.That person was Dean Winchester, a young man who died at the hands of his own father. He devoted his life to taking care of others especially his younger brother, Sam Winchester. He was deemed righteous enough to become the next person to guide the souls across the seas of the afterlife.He did his job well, because he loved helping others and all was well and well was repetitive until a new blue eyed soul came.
Relationships: Castiel & Dean Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	The Righteous

The world was so blue, he felt connected to that colour, like it was the missing piece of his soul.

Dean Winchester awoke, body floating on an endless blue ocean, green eyes hazy. He couldn't remember what happened in that moment, hell he could barely remember his name, as he sat up on the ocean, as if it were a solid ground, he saw nothing around him but blue water and pink skies. 

_"Dean."_

He looked up to where the voice came from, in the skies there was a cloudy figure whose shape he couldn't really make out except for the fact that it had wings, like an angel. "Where am I?"

_"You have died, Dean. You are home now."_

Dean's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I'm...dead?" He looked down at his hands then his feet. He could see the water beneath him, beautiful koi fish swimming beneath his feet without a care in the world. How peculiar. "What do you mean home?" He looked back up at the figure, its glowing blue eyes hypnotic.

_"You have a job to do and I have been waiting for you."_

"A job?" He asked, only getting more confused by the second. He felt so confused yet so at peace.

_"You are The Righteous Man. The lost souls need you, Dean, you will guide them. You will help them feel at peace so they can go."_

Dean stared up at the figure filling up the sky, baffled. "And where do they go?"

_"That, Dean, is up to you."_

Dean was never sure how long ago that was. Time in the afterlife was different after all. He died when he was twenty-five and still felt like he was that age. His face and body looked the same. Twenty years here could be only five years on Earth, maybe even five seconds and while it didn't make sense, Dean didn't let it confuse him too much anymore. He had himself, the souls to guide and his faithful boat, the Impala. His job was to make the path to the afterlife fulfilling enough for spirits to let go and when they did, he would take them to door.

It was always fulfilling to do this yet he never truly felt fulfilled. He knew one day it would be his turn at the door - he just didn't know when.

The ship was large so much so it was rather unrealistic but it was a ship cruising in a literal sea of souls so it wasn't too unrealistic for where it was. It had everything a soul would need for their journey and of course they would make pit stops. The soul of seas had many islands and even though the souls were dead, they still required the things that they did when they were alive.

"Where we off to, captain?" Charlie asked, grinning from ear to ear.

Dean smiled at her voice, turning to her. The red head, he had picked her up a long time ago, what felt like hundreds of years ago. Sometimes souls took a long time to pass and sometimes he could pick them up and drop them off in the same day. He had Charlie with him for so long he deemed her his first mate. It would be hard when it was her time to go. "There's supposed to be a soul on an island not far from here- a new one too." Sometimes souls spent a long time on the islands of the afterlife before Dean could pick them up. He wasn't sure why it happened that way but it had its reasons and he knew better than to question the ways of the afterlife. He was only the delivery guy after all. "Amulet's tellin' me so." 

The amulet was given to him by Sam, his little brother and he wore it every day of his life and afterlife. He died wearing it and so it became a spirit beacon, the spirit in the sky made it so. 

God...he missed Sam. He wondered how he was going, if he was that big shot lawyer he always wanted to be.

He feared the day in which he would reap him.

Often when spirits would come on board, parts of them would change, not every time though. At times it would be animals that they shared spirit with, like a man who had fox ears and tail for his journey or a woman who once blind in her life on earth, would have the brightest eyes with the greatest vision one could ever have for her journey. Sometimes it had meaning. Sometimes it was meaningless.

Again, he knew better than to question the ways of the afterlife. 

Charlie's red hair was her iconic look, in the darkness it would glow, in a way it was a beacon for the ship in the darkness. Even in the seas of the afterlife there was a day and night cycle, to make spirits feel more normalcy, Dean thought. Changing everything at once would only result in spirits refusing to move on. Unfortunately Dean had dealt with spirits like that before. It never went well.

"Gotcha. Ships already on the move, huh?" Charlie smiled, looking over to the wheel. Dean never did have to steer it. The amulet and his brain was connected and the amulet drove the ship. Even if Dean didn't know where the island was exactly, the amulet did.

The amulet was smart, just like Sammy. Dean swore it was him some days.

"Looks like it. Bout time we got someone, ships been pretty empty lately." Dean nodded. They had dropped off a few souls not that long ago, they all went together, it was a family. They had all died at the same time, a brutal housefire. It was...heart breaking, to say the least.

"Me, you, Benny, new guy- only four people on the ship, it'll be a rare sight." Charlie snickered, walking over to the hammock. "I think I'll get a nap in before we meet 'em."

Dean watched as she laid down, eyebrows raised in amusement. "Good plan." He walked up the stairs to the helm. Although he didn't need to steer, he liked having his hands on the wheel, it reminded him of driving a car. It was different for sure but it itched that scratch. He stared out into the boundless sea and soon enough in the distance he could see an island peaking over the horizon, knowing that was where the soul must be.

Benny would wonder why they were stopping, he figured he should go down and see him. The man rarely came out of his room as of late.

He made his way down to the ships quarters. Inside the ship there were many rooms, which reminded Dean of a cruise ship when he first got here though he had never been lucky enough to go on one. The insides of each room always changed depending on the soul living there, it was quite amazing. He stood outside Benny's door, letting out a breath before he knocked. "Benny?" There was no answer though after a few moments the door unlocked. Dean took hold of the doorknob and opened the door. Inside was what appeared to be a nice cosy cabin. It opened right up to the living room, where Benny was sitting on a chair near the window, beer in hand as he looked out at the scenery. "Benny...hey man." He walked over, sitting across from him.

Benny took a swig of his beer before putting it down. "How long have I been here, brother? Hundreds of years? Thousands?"

"Few months." Dean replied softly. He knew why Benny was down. He had seen it before. Souls get tired of being here and get depressed, yet it still isn't time for them to go.

"Christ." Benny shook his head in disbelief. It seemed longer than that. It seemed longer to Dean too. "I've been starting to remember things lately bout myself, bout how I died."

Dean's eyes lit up. That was a good sign at least. Usually when spirits remembered, it was close to their time. His heart ached at the thought of losing Benny though. The two had gotten close. "That's great, man. What do you remember?"

"Andrea." Benny gestured to the coffee table, which had a few photos of her. "The woman whose photos were here from day one."

Dean looked over to the table then back to Benny. "Who was she?"

"The love of my life." Benny took another swig of his beer, finishing it. "That's all I can remember but- but I swear each second I remember more and more."

This explained why the man hadn't been leaving his room, in fact Dean was surprised he had been let in at all. Spirits often hid themselves away in their rooms. Their rooms were designed to look like their safe space after all, their perfect home. Rooms could look like entire farms, jungles or even just a simple cosy cabin like this.

"You'll remember it all. It just takes time." Dean reassured him.

Benny put the beer glass down, finally looking over to Dean and not the window. "You remember everything yet?"

Dean shook his head. "I know who killed me and everything before that, so you'd think that'd be everything." He paused. "I still think that I'm missing things though."

Benny nodded along to Dean's words. "Your dads a bastard."

"That he is." Dean smiled sheepishly. "Anyway, thought I'd come let you know we should be stopping soon."

"New spirit, huh?" 

"Yeah."

As if it were perfectly timed, the ship slowed and came to a halt.

"That's my cue." Dean got up, his amulet shining bright. "Come out and say hello later if you can, yeah?" He gave Benny a pat on the shoulder as he made his way out of his room, closing the door behind him. Benny still seemed down but he was remembering, that was a good sign and Dean had a job to do. Charlie and Benny couldn't do this for him. It was his calling as The Righteous.

He walked up to the deck, waving to Charlie as he hopped off onto the island docks, each island always had a dock ready. It was convenient for sure. The island wasn't that large thankfully, or at least it didn't appear to be. It was a small forest area with a bright shining sun, flowers and boundless insects, butterflies, grasshoppers and most importantly honeybees. Islands spirits are found on always have something to do with them one way or another. He let out a breath before continuing onwards, following where the amulet told him to go. He went deeper into the forest and as he did so, it got darker and darker, the trees blocking out the sun.

He didn't get a good feeling from this.

Dean's hands balled into a fist as he continued onwards, the forest soon morphing into a city road. The city was covered by a night sky, the skyscrapers surrounding them were lit up yet dark at the same time. There was no crowd, just silence. He had never seen a city so quiet. He stared down ground, noticing he was on a road and looking up, ahead a black shape of a spirit on the road. The spirit was shaky and fuzzy. It was just a blackened shape, slightly humanoid with bright blue eyes that reminded Dean of something. Dean looked at the ground underneath the spirit, covered in blood.

The spirit was shakily reaching out to a car Dean had only just noticed on the road. The car had seen better days. It appeared to Dean that the spirit had been in a car accident and was struggling to let go of that, still things were never as simple as they looked.

He swallowed hard as he approached the shadowy figure. "Hey..." He kept his voice quiet and gentle. "It's okay now. You'll be okay now." He took a few steps closer. "You're safe now, you need to come with me." He let out his hand for the figure to take. The figure muttered things he couldn't understand, it just sounded like gibberish though still it took Dean's hand.

Dean had found thousands of spirits but this felt different to all of them. He had seen weird stuff picking up spirits too. Still this one felt...different. He couldn't explain it with any other word than that. 

He helped the figure up, it was much smaller than him. He knew once they got onto the ship and the spirit accepted the fact that it was dead it would take form of its body again. He stayed slightly leaned down on his side as he walked with the spirit out of the city and back through the forest due to the difference in size. As they got closer to the ship, the shape of the spirit moved like it was moulding itself and soon enough they were on the ship, Dean gently letting go of the spirit once they were there.

The spirit shook and muttered things he didn't understand still before laying down on the deck, the darkness moulding into a humanoid figure and finally a person. 

Dean stared at the man before him, a beautiful man at that. He had messy hair and the bluest eyes he had ever seen. The other form didn't do him justice. He wore a white shirt, tie, pants and trench coat. Sometimes spirits died in what they were wearing, sometimes they came to the afterlife in things they felt better in, such as a uniform, their favourite shirt or pyjamas. Each soul was unique.

Finally Dean's eyes fell onto the back of the man where he could see beautiful angel-like wings attached, the feathers black though had a slight rainbow gleam in the sunlight. It was truly beautiful. Dean had seen lots of strange things on spirits he bought on board but never anything like this. It was gorgeous. It took his breath away.

He swallowed hard, finding his mouth try and speechless. He stopped his staring when the figure opened up his eyes, blue meeting green. 

The man slowly sat up with a hazy look on his face, like he had just woken up from sleep and in a way he did. "Where...am I?"

Dean put out his hand for the man to take now as his true self. "You're in the afterlife." He said. "I'm your guide."

Castiel hesitantly took his hand, allowing the man to help him up. "I'm dead?"

"Yeah." Dean nodded. "It's not easy to hear." It never got easier telling spirits either.

Castiel went silent for a moment as he took the information in. Everything was so hazy. He couldn't even remember how he died. "You said you're my guide- are you some sort of Angel?"

Dean couldn't help but chuckle at that. It wasn't the first time he was called an angel but he never in a million years could picture himself as one. "More like a reaper, I guess, if you want a familiar term." He looked down at their hands, noticing that Castiel hadn't let go, their hands together and fingers still intertwined. The way Castiel looked at him too- it was so intense and familiar. He felt like their eyes had met before. It made his mouth feel dry again. "What's your name?"

"Castiel." He replied, voice soft. "What is your name, guide?"

"Dean." He smiled at the man. "You'll be safe here with me."

Their hands were still together. Any other time he would pull away, feeling awkward and weirded out but there was something different about this situation. He almost didn't want to let go.

"Dean." Castiel nodded, testing the name out on his tongue. "It's nice to meet you, Dean." He turned the handholding into a hand shake before letting go. "This- is it Heaven?"

Dean shook his head. "I'm here to guide you to the light or the darkness." Heaven or hell, simply put. 

He looked over to the wings again. He couldn't stop staring. They were beautiful. He wanted to run his fingers through the feathers. Fuck, his mouth felt dry yet again. If the light was truly Heaven with god and angels like humanity thought, he thought Castiel would fit right in, black feathers or not.

"I have a feeling it's the light for you, Angel."


End file.
